The Morning After
by Returned
Summary: When the brown haired beauty rose from her deep slumber, she didn't expect to find a naked Hyuga in her bed.
1. Rude Awakenings

**The Morning After**

Chapter One: Rude Awakenings

* * *

The pretty little brunette kunoichi half-willingly woke from her peaceful slumber so that she could have time to brace herself for a new mission with her beloved teammates without having to rush. It wasn't for a couple more hours, but she wanted to have time to adequately prepare her weapons and packs. Not to be misunderstood; Tenten was not a morning person, nor was she one to dread the morning. She just knew how to put the important things first and responsibly adjust to it. Her principle of life was to be strong-minded, prepared, and be able to skillfully deal with anything that comes her way. She would always be fully equipped and at her best, refusing to be anything but useful to her teammates.

With that in mind to motivate her from the comfy bed, she readily shifted to the other side of the bed and proceeded to lift the sheets off her body so that she could prop herself off the bed and prepare for the mission. However, she was presented with an unexpected surprise. No amount of kunais, explosives, and satisfying morning pees could brace herself for the sight she was about to witness on the other side of the bed.

A shirtless and handsomely chiseled prodigy lay opposite of her in a deep, peaceful slumber. A slight upward curve of the mouth plastered his serene facial expression, completely contrasting the stunned look on his teammate's face.

_Why is Neji half-naked on my bed…?_

She paused her train of thought and looked down at her own body to realize that she had a lack thereof of a top as well. She also briefly noticed but didn't take much consideration into it, that Neji's arm was loosely wrapped around her shoulders.

_Why am I half-naked too...? Wait a minute…_

The innocent and pure kunoichi hesitantly lifted her bed covers and peeked under them; the sheets were quickly thrown back down to their original position at the sight of the both of them being _fully naked_. Her cheeks slightly reddened at the sight of male _parts _for the first time in her entire life.

_Wow, so that's what Neji looks like down there. I always imagined it to look... different.  
_

Her gaze trailed back to the intruder's placid face where his perfectly paced breathing indicated that like he wouldn't wake up anytime soon. The brown haired kunoichi contemplated on what course of action she should take for this unanticipated event.

A normal girl would have done one of the following 4 choices.

1. Scream at the top of her lungs (Ino).

2. Pummel the unknown man in her bed (Sakura).

3. Ogle the handsome nude man in front of her (Fangirls).

4. Faint (Hinata).

However, none of those were an option for her because Tenten was anything but a normal girl. She was never an over-dramatic, perverted, girly, or weak-hearted person. Instead, she was an independent tomboy with a strong distaste for weakness. Due to her personality traits, she decided to take a more rational approach, believing that she should hear what her trusted comrade had to say before jumping to wild conclusions.

"Neji." She cooed in a soft, gentle voice.

He showed no response so she tried again, this time mildly shaking him.

"Neji."

No response. She began feeling frustrated with her teammate and shook him less gently this time, along with an impatient tone in her voice.

"Neji, wake up."

Pale eyes gradually opened and aligned with deep russet ones. The stare off lasted no more than a few seconds when the awakened prodigy gradually sat up and straightened out his bare back to stretch out the soreness due to sleep. She watched him quietly, trying to analyze his every move.

Noticing her gaze, he then turned to her, smiled softly, leaned in, and tenderly pressed his warm lips against her slightly parted, cool lips.

She couldn't help but gasp a little at the unexpected act of affection from her training partner. It wasn't as if she hated it (she'd even playfully fantasize about it when nobody was around), she'd just never really thought of them _actually_ being intimate like that. Neji was never one to be affectionate or loving to anyone in any manner; he was the emotionless and careless individual who seemed as if nothing could ever faze him. She even doubted whether he was even mentally capable of romantically loving someone.

Yet here he was, planting a gentle kiss on his female teammate.

She was desperate to know what had happened last night to cause this prominent change when she finally recalled what had briefly slipped her mind due to his intoxicating kiss; they were both stripped down to their bare bottoms. Suddenly, she was now hesitant to ask. Had she participated in immoral acts with her longtime friend? Was that the reason for this 180 change? If so, then she would've felt like a whore for losing her purity yet not even remembering it, doing so with a man who wasn't even her husband, and having had done so with the closest companion to her!

"Tenten." He spoke in a husky tone, noticing her obvious distress. "Do you remember what happened last night?"

The poor girl honestly shook her head, feeling very guilty.

His face dropped a little and he uttered, "I see."

"Did we..._do_ anything last night?" she quietly asked, hoping her question was implied so that she wouldn't have to use vulgar words for what she really meant.

_Oh kami, please don't say we had premarital intercourse. Please, please, please._

To her dismay, he slowly nodded his head and her eyes protruded with stricken horror.

The saddened Hyuga mentally contemplated on how he should explain last night to his clueless teammate. He figured that actions would speak louder than words.

With slow, cautious movements, he finally raised his finger to point at her left hand that laid in her lap. Her gaze trailed down to where his finger was pointing at and gasped in horror; a beautiful diamond stone had rested itself on her fourth finger.

At least she didn't have premarital sex.

* * *

**Hello hello! Thank you for reading ! :) If you could do me a big favor and submit a review, that would be greatly appreciated! Even constructive critisism is strongly encouraged! It really motivates me to continue on with a story! **


	2. The Promise

**The Morning After**

Chapter 2: The Promise

* * *

Her pretty face was still stricken with horror as the shiny rock gleamed in her face, seemingly taunting her. Her mind jumbled into a million diverse thoughts and it seemed as if her mouth couldn't come up with any appropriate words for this _occasion_, so she stated the obvious instead which made her sound very artless.

"This is a ring."

He raised his eyebrow at the simplicity of her statement.

Neji waited for her to continue, for her to ask questions, or even start hysterically babbling nonsense. Obviously, she did none of the above because that wasn't who she was. He knew her better than that, better than anyone in the world actually but he hoped this moment would be an exception. Anything else would be better than her tormenting, silent dismay because he had no idea what kind of possible ideas were running through her mind right now.

Right now, he knew exactly what he was feeling. Utterly disappointed. Yesterday was the most incredible day of his life. He and his beloved teammate that he believed he had a one-sided affection for, had finally consummated their love and became together as an established couple.

It was terrible for him to grasp that she had no recollection of it when he assumed he had finally obtained what he had always coveted.

Dejected, he knew that if he didn't say something that the awkward tension would continue he decided to explain to her in the best manner the genius Hyuga could.

"Ten-"

"TENTEN! TENTEN! TENTEN!"

Two loud, booming voices simultaneously intervened from outside her house. The prodigy internally groaned at the familiar voices that obnoxiously interrupted him; the two annoyances were persistent to chirp on as well.

"TENTEN! TENTEN! WAKE UP! IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY! TENTEN! TENTEN!"

Suddenly, the previously dazed girl had marched over to her window, shoved it open, and peered outside.

"Lee! Gai-sensei! Please stop, you're going to wake up my neighbors!" She lectured in a hushed tone. As if the two were deaf, Lee replied as deafeningly as he had before while his sensei nodded his head furiously at everything his beloved subordinate said.

"But we're going to be late for our appointment with Tsunade-sama for our mission!"

The kunoichi quickly peeked over at her clock that read 10:00AM and groaned.

"Lee! Our appointment is at 11:30!"

"But you're usually here a couple hours earlier! We were worried you would oversleep!"

The unfashionable man had a point; usually she would've been there by 8.

"I'll get ready right now!" She called out as he gave her massive thumbs up.

"Yosh! While you're getting ready, we're going to go retrieve Neji! We'll be right ba-!"

Strong arms softly wrapped his arms around her figure, surprising her, and shifted them both to the side so that he could peer out the window.

"That won't be necessary," he called out to the flamboyant men in a calm manner and released an arm from her waist to swiftly close the window to avoid his teammate's and sensei's incredulous responses.

She gazed up at him with dark brown eyes, as he entrapped her in his hold. He returned her gaze, fighting the strong urge to kiss her again because he was aware that her gaze wasn't one of longing. It was one of inquisitiveness, one that sought an answer to this change of pace, but also one that contemplated how or if she should ask for it.

He mentally contemplated what course of action he should take to answer his clueless newlywed. He finally came to a decision and released his grip on her petite waist.

"I'll explain after the mission." He assured her, knowing she would oblige with his temporary answer because of her commitment to being a great ninja first over everything else. She nodded and walked over to her drawer to prepare for the mission. She glanced over at him and spoke to him normally for the first time this strange morning.

"Are you going home to get your stuff?"

"No, I brought it with me already."

"I see."

She fought the urge to widen her eyes in shock again since she was still trying to comprehend the fact that Neji, her beloved teammate, had spent the night at her house and had even brought over all his stuff.

That was the last statement they shared as they silently got ready for the mission: changing their clothes with their backs facing each other, packing up their weapons and necessities, and finishing their morning hygienic routine.

* * *

Outside Tenten's house

"Gai-sensei! Why is Neji in our beautiful flower's house?!" His giant, round eyes pleaded his instructor for an answer.

His sensei had his eyes closed and his arms crossed, intensely concentrated on an answer. After a few minutes, he finally opened his eyes with a completely serious look on his face.

"Lee-san." He began.

"Yes, Gai-sensei?!"

"I think…" he paused again.

"Yes, Gai-sensei?!"

"Our beloved Neji must have realized Tenten's lack of punctuality and gone to wake her up and help her pack up!"

"OOOOOOOH! Yes Gai-sensei, that must be it!"

"Our Neji is so kind!"

"Yes he is!"

"Ready to do 1000 sit-ups while we wait for them?!"

"Yes sensei!"

The two dense green beasts of Konoha proceeded to lie on their backs and accomplish a thousand sit ups.

* * *

When they finally finished getting ready, Neji peered over to her distant back facing her mirror as she completed her daily hairstyle. They hadn't spoken at all during the last hour and it made him a bit anxious.

Noticing his focus on her from the mirror, she turned around and walked towards him, stopping to grasp his right hand in her left one with a determined smile on her face.

"Let's go, Neji."

He nodded and returned a small smile as they walked to the door together. He noticed something mildly poking his fingers as they had them intertwined. His eyes widened in shock at his realization because he was 100% sure that she would have taken off the ring until the mission was over…unless she forgot about it. However, he highly doubted it because she had never been a forgetful girl, especially for something as unforgettable as that.

As if she read his mind, she kept her eyes on the door and replied to his thoughts.

"Well if I'm your wife, it's only customary for me to wear the ring." She finally turned her head to his bewildered face. "Unless you object to it?"

He quickly returned to his stoic manner and responded coolly.

"Not at all."

He fought back the smile that tried to creep up his face; this was the first time ever that she had referred to themselves being married. He loved the sound of the words _Tenten _and _Wife_ together in the same sentence.

"However," she broke his train of thought and continued with a serious face, "completing this mission comes first."

"Of course." He promised.

She smiled and removed their intertwining hands to open the door, both ready to deal with the now later and the later now.

* * *

**Thank you for all the support and reviews! It took me 2 days to finish this chapter! I'm trying to spur as much imaginative creativity as I can! It's a bit difficult trying to keep the people in character, but I'm trying my best! Please continue to review because it gives me motivation to continue on! :) **


	3. Mission Details

**The Morning After**

Chapter 3: The Mission

* * *

Before giving them instructions for their B-Ranked mission, the female Hokage decided to provide Team Gai with some background information.

"We have reason to believe that the Sugi village is planning to set off explosives and bombs upon Konoha due to an extensive grudge they've held against us. Unfortunately, Konoha has had a bad reputation of stealing from them in the past."

"If we know of an upcoming attack, shouldn't we act quickly and further strengthen our military power to prepare for it?!" The worried sensei in the olive spandex bellowed with grand hand gestures. Tsunade-sama waved her arm at him up and down as a gesture for him to calm down as she explained.

"Of course we are being alert and silently upping our defense systems. However, we aren't completely sure if that is their intention or not and we don't want to diverge our attentions away from other priorities and panic our villagers if it turns out to be false."

The heavy browed sensei nodded in understanding agreement and waited patiently for her to continue her explanation, like the rest of his obedient students.

The Fifth Hokage peered up at the members of the team standing before her and skimmed over them from left to right, lingering a moment longer on the brunette girl. "That's where you four come in; your mission will be to abduct an important man from the Sugi Village while being infiltrated into the village disguised as commoners from the Land of Water."

The Fifth Hokage pulled out a photo of a handsome, russet haired man from her clutter of paperwork.

Because of Tenten's sole feminine quality to appreciate attractive men despite her tomboyish demeanor, she couldn't help but comment silently to herself upon his physical appearance. Her pale eyed teammate sharply hushed her and kept his cold glare on the photo of the (according to his fiancée) "cute" man.

"His surname is unknown but he goes by the name Kai; he is known to be their hokage's right-hand man so it'll be guaranteed he'll have knowledge on whether the Sugi Village is planning an attack on Konoha or not. You must imperceptibly capture him without the village's notice and bring him back where we can extort information from him through _whatever_ means possible."

Tsunade-sama tossed over a scroll into Gai-sensei's hands and finished her explanation.

"He's always surrounded by his men so it's up to you guys to isolate him. When you have succeeding in doing so, use whatever methods you'd like to capture him as long as you leave no trace of Konoha's doings."

The four ninjas nodded, understanding their hokage's implication from that.

"You can count on us, Hokage-sama." Gai-sensei boomed proudly and presented a dazzling smile, followed by his signature thumbs up. "My cute pupils and I will lead this mission to victory!"

She chuckled and closed her eyes with a smile. "I entrust you with this mission."

With no further questions Team Guy bowed their heads in respect to their nation's great leader and began to take their leave from the Hokage's office when they were quickly interrupted.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention…" Her lips curved into a mischievous smile. "Your perpetrator seems to have a huge fascination with beautiful, tomboyish brunettes. I believe that will be useful for your mission."

* * *

**I just finished this chapter at 2 in the morning and my eyes are starting to give up on me! Haha, I do apologize for the shortness of this chapter; I assure you that the next couple of chapters will be lengthier! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please do me a favor and review! I love reading every single one of them; it just makes me really excite with my stories! :) **

**OH! By the way, this is very important! I'd like to ask you guys if you would mind if the story turned into a rated M one instead of a rated T one. Whether you do mind or not, please let me know! Even if you don't care, please let me know that you don't care! Thank you very much!  
**


	4. The Arrivals

**The Morning After**

Chapter 4: The Arrivals

* * *

It had already hit noon when the four ninjas unraveled the scroll and scanned it. After Team Gai had examined the details of the mission provided from the scroll, they had established 3 primary conditions for achieving a successful infiltration.

1. Carrying any ninja weapons on them would be prohibited in order to avoid suspicion.

Obviously, the infamous weapons mistress had a major issue with this. Unlike her other three peers who specialized in physical combat, her weapons were the main source of her fighting technique. Without them, she'd basically be defenseless. She quietly cursed under her breath and mentally contemplated how she would work her way around it.

2. Their wardrobe must be altered to imitate ordinary villagers to avoid attracting attention.

Needless to say, the only ones who had a problem with this concept were the two bobbed haired men who always wore their trademark spandex suits proudly. Disgruntledly, they understood it had to be done.

3. They would all enter the village individually at different time frames as strangers to one another. However, the two green lovers were an exception since they looked similar enough to pose as a loving father and son in search of a peaceful village to reside in; they would arrive at the village first. Neji, who would proceed shortly after, would act as a young traveler, claiming to pass through the village for a short amount of time. Tenten would pose as a lovely young woman, looking for steady work from a quiet town. She would enter Sugi Village a week after them to complete the randomized intervals of the newcomers.

The usually unbothered Hyuga never had any problems with mission procedures, but actually cringed when learning of the required separation as he glanced over at his "beautiful, tomboyish brunette" of a teammate who seemed to be transfixed on her own thoughts (most likely the first condition).

He calmed himself down by reassuring himself that his competent woman was capable of taking care of herself; she was a strong and intelligent kunoichi.

Yet, in the back of his mind, he knew that _that _wasn't what he was worried about.

"Yosh!" The determined Gai-sensei rolled up the scroll and tucked it into his holster. "Lee and I will depart immediately after adjusting our wardrobe and weapon supply. Neji, I expect to see you in the evening." He diverted his attention from each of his pupil's faces as he spoke to them. "And Tenten, I'll see you sometime next week!"

The proud sensei forced his pupils to engage in what he considered a "youthful" tradition where they would pile their hands together and fiercely pump them up and down while chanting.

"TEAMWORK!"

"OHH!"

"TEAMWORK!"

"OHH!"

"TEAMWORK!"

"OHH!"

"LET'S GO!"

"HAI, SENSEI!"

Of course, it was only Gai-sensei and Lee who wholehearted participated in this.

* * *

Pale, white eyes thoroughly scanned his unfamiliar surroundings, while remembering to remain inconspicuous.

Instead of his traditional robes, Neji's clothing consisted of a white, short-sleeved shirt along with basic black pants. His hair was tied a few inches above the ends in a loose ponytail like how he used to wear it in his earlier years and bandages were cleanly wrapped around his forehead to hide his damned curse mark.

He had reached Sugi village approximately six hours subsequent to his two lively comrades and had already checked into a decently priced inn.

So far, Sugi village had a strong resemblance to Konoha through their designs and architecture. He had expected it to, since both of the villages are located in close proximity. The only difference was that Sugi village was significantly more colonized than Konoha, easily triple the amount despite having the same dimensions. The bustling aspect of the village was a great advantage to the four impostors from Konoha, making it easier for them to camouflage themselves.

At the moment, his instructions were to focus on settling himself into the village and getting accustomed to the environment as well as its residents. He presumed that was exactly what his sensei and fellow teammate were doing at the moment: exploring the stores and scaring citizens with their overly friendly nature. After a couple days have passed, the first three who had already infiltrated the village were supposed to gather information on their perpetrator while they wait for their last teammate to arrive before making any close contact with their target.

Attempting to rationalize his contemplations, he told himself that because of the nonexistent diversity and seemingly useless commoners, it would be a complete waste of time to acquaint himself with them as well as "sightsee" the village.

Ordinarily, Neji wasn't one to question orders from higher ups, but his subjective desires to protect his newlywed were starting to kick in; he felt the strong urge to accomplish their given assignment as quickly as possible.

Ideally, he'd want to capture their target within a week from today.

He had recalled how the scroll had provided little information on Kai: that he was a powerful jonin who was confided in by their village's hokage, that his ideal woman who he was still in search for was a pretty brunette tomboy, and that he had an addictive love to alcohol. The resolute Hyuga peered over at the darkened sky and nonexistent sunlight, observing the time to be no later than 8; the perfect time to begin commencing adult mischief.

He knew exactly where to find his liquor loving man.

* * *

Within half an hour, the prodigy had already located the perpetrator at the crowded pub. The unaccompanied, handsome Hyuga sat at the noisy bar, taking leisure sips from his drink while keeping his body position away from his target.

Kai, the tall russet haired man sporting a blue lined mesh T-shirt along with loose black pants, was sitting at one of the corner table with three other men and gulping down what seemed to be his fourth beer.

Neji took note of his target's three companions as a precaution to having to prospectively face them in battle considering his abduction doesn't go unobtrusively.

The man sitting next to Kai was of incredible size and had a stern look on his face, while the two men sitting opposite them were of average height and full with smiles and laughter. Out the four men, Neji examined Kai and the giant seemed to be the strongest of the bunch, judging from their chakra build and physique.

"Are you alone?" A soft voice purred.

Neji glanced over to whoever was addressing the question to him. In front of him was a thin, black haired woman with a devious smile on her face.

"I am." He answered truthfully and brought his attention back to the front of the bar, taking another sip of his drink. He sensed her body shifting closer to him and an intrusive hand resting itself on his knee.

"You're very handsome, you know." She whispered teasingly in his ear.

The engaged man felt very frustrated by this disturbance, but realized that angering her could result in her making a scene, something he couldn't afford to do right now. Disgruntledly, he decided to go along with it and not banish her immediately while still keeping his full attention on Kai.

"Thank you."

"You don't talk much, do you?"

"Not really."

She grinned and leaned in closer. "Good, that's how I like my men."

Unaffected by the obvious desperation flirting with him, he noticed the four men paying for their drinks, indicating that they were about to leave soon. It would seem too suspicious if Neji departed from the pub at the same exact as them _and _be headed in the same direction, unless he had company with him. A desperately needy woman was perfect for a time like this. Unlike his usual self, he turned his attention over to the woman and presented her with a desirable proposal.

"Would you like to come to my place tonight?"

* * *

**I'm quite proud of myself for finishing this chapter; I feel as if I'm updating pretty quickly but correct me if I'm wrong! :) Like I always say, please please PLEASE REVIEW ! If I don't get enough reviews on the story, I won't feel as motivated to continue on with the story because I'll believe that the only one reading it is me...lol.**

**Once again, PLEASE TELL ME YOUR OPINION ON MY MAYBE CHANGING THE FANFIC TO RATED M!**

**Thank you for the love and support. You guys are the best! ^_^ V**


	5. 6 Days

**The Morning After**

Chapter 5: The Six Days

* * *

The prideful Hyuga prodigy sat quietly at the edge of his bed, mentally reprimanding himself for not being capable of capturing Kai by himself.

There was no possible way for Neji to separate Kai from his group without raising suspicions. Even if he had decided to use brute force to isolate him from his men, there was no way that the prodigy, strong as he was, could singlehandedly take on four jonins with his life still intact.

He mentally groaned as he balled his hands together to compose his uneasiness.

It had been 6 days since he had first had scoped out his target; the only beneficial things he got out of it were the physical awareness of Kai's bodyguards and the understanding that they were all speedy runners.

His frustrated self closed his pale eyes and began to recollect the last 6 days he had spent in Suna Village.

* * *

**Day 1**

"_Would you like to come to my place tonight?" He asked smoothly without hesitation. The long haired black woman had a surprised look on her face that quickly followed with a pleased expression._

"_I'd love to." She replied in a sultry voice._

_He threw a wad of cash on the table and held out his arm for the fascinated woman to grasp as he hurriedly led them to the door that his perpetrator was currently leaving from. _

_Ignoring every word that came out of the easy woman's mouth, he casually scanned the perimeters when they exited to the outside of the pub. _

_Drunken fools and desperate women were the only people he found lounging outside the pub; the four men were nowhere to be found. _

_Neji furrowed his eyebrows in aggravation at the realization of his vanished target; it hadn't even been over a couple seconds later that he had trailed after them._

_He bluntly pulled his arm away from the now unserviceable woman's clutches. He attempted to politely excuse himself and walked away from the bar, disregarding the angered woman's profane cries because she had just been abruptly ditched_

**Day 2**

_Once again, he found himself at the irritatingly loud bar, in search of his perpetrator once again; he took sips of his usual drink to ease the unbearable noisiness. After four hours of having annoyances relentlessly flirt with him and him having to politely turn them down, he concluded that Kai wasn't going to make an appearance tonight._

**Day 3**

_The same routine as the previous 2 days where he once again, found that Kai was nowhere to be found. _

**Day 4**

_Before heading to the pub at night, he decided to scope the large village in hopes that he might encounter Kai and discover another one of Kai's usual spots. _

_Instead, Neji found his two teammates dressed in matching white short-sleeved shirts and green sweatpants at the nearby clothing shop. They greeted one another courteously, like how normal villagers would when they come across a stranger. _

_However, when his surprisingly casual looking sensei brushed past him to move along with his miniature version of himself, he discreetly slipped a small note into Neji's pocket. _

_When Neji went home to bathe and adjust into his night clothes, he pulled out the small piece of paper and read the green ink._

_**Hello, my wonderful pupil.**_

_**I hope that your fires of youth are lively flaming right now.**_

_**Lee and I have sightseen most of the village and conversed with their inhabitants who have treated us very kindly.**_

_**Nothing seems suspicious so far.**_

_**Tenten, our beautiful flower, is expected to join us in three days. **_

_**We will wait until her arrival before searching for our target.**_

_**Love, your wonderfully youthful sensei and his beloved son**_

_After reading through the writing, he folded it neatly and burned it so that nobody would discover it. Disregarding his sensei's last sentence and distressing over the second to last phrase, he pulled a fitted gray shirt over his lean, muscled body and slipped on plain black pants. _

_Sitting himself at the bar again for the fourth day in a row, the bartender seemed to recognize him as a customer and brought him his usual drink without question. _

_Dealing with the same kinds of troublesome women that he had been rejecting from the first time he ventured to the pub, he found that Kai and his men were once again nowhere to be found._

**Day 5**

_In pleading hopes that tonight would be a fortunate one, his stubborn objective once again refused to make an arrival. _

_The bartender was beginning to think his pale eyed, handsome customer was a drunkard._

**Today**

Becoming impatient with his unsuccessful efforts at finding his target, he deliberated on why the russet-haired man had failed to make an appearance at the pub.

Perhaps the group of men was sent on a mission; that would clarify why they were nowhere to be found in the preceding days.

However if that were the case, there would be no prior knowledge on when his target would return; Kai could be back tonight, next week, or maybe even a month. He now deemed it impossible to capture his opponent alone before the arrival of his kunoichi.

Yet, being the wonderfully stubborn man he was, Neji pulled on a light blue jacket and headed out the door.

Being entirely immersed in his own thoughts, he failed to sense the lean figure seemingly observing the anterior of the shop adjacent them. Breaking his train of thought, he momentarily collided with the figure opposite of him and glanced down to utter a quick apology before moving on. His eyes widened at the sight of the russet-haired person in front of him who muttered bluntly.

"You should really watch where you're going."

* * *

**6 Days Ago **

The disgruntled brown-haired kunoichi was in her lonesome house, laying out her cherished weapons to bid them an adequate farewell since their mission prohibited the carriage of weaponry.

"Alright, this won't be easy…" she started off with a shaky voice and lowered her head.

She quickly raised her head, believing her comrades (her weapons) deserved an honorable and earnest farewell.

"Guys (addressing her weapons), I just wanted to let you know that I love you all very much. You've all been with me through everything: the good, the bad, and the in-between."

Her voice began to crack, her obvious sadness peeking through. Good god, it was harder for the weapons mistress to leave her weapons than it was for a doting father to leave his children. "Leaving you guys behind is the hardest thing for me to do. I-"

Her speech to her personified weapons was interrupted by a resilient knock on her door, followed by an unfamiliar man's voice.

"Tenten-san? Are you home?"

"What's your business with me?"

"Hokage Tsunade has requested for me to retrieve you right now."

The previously emotional weapons mistress cautiously opened the door to find a middle-aged ninja wearing the standard ANBU member uniform consisting of a simple blue suit with the standard flak jacket, strapped up sandals, and arm guards.

She deemed him trustworthy and wordlessly followed him to her office.

Arriving at her office door, the ANBU member courteously knocked on the Hokage's door and stated in a monotonous voice.

"I brought the woman you requested for."

The apparent sound of lottery tickets being clumsily stashed in the drawer was heard from the other side of the door before the honorable gambler responded.

"Thank you. Please send her in."

The gentleman opened the door for Tenten, gesturing the kunoichi to enter the room.

"Tenten," Tsunade started as the young ninja made her way to the middle of the room, facing her nation's legendary Sannin. "I have some things to speak with you about regarding your current mission… and the important role you will play in it alone."

Tenten respectfully maintained a perfect posture with her full attention on the woman she had once admired, patiently waiting for her to continue her speech.

"Out of your four team members… No. Out of everyone in the entire village, I believe that you are the most capable of making this mission a complete success.

Tenten, who was rarely given the amount of recognition she truly deserved, felt relatively confused but incredibly flattered by the unexpected praise.

"You, the perfect image of a woman that Kai has been searching for, can effortlessly isolate him from his individuals where your other teammates can then ambush him. I've prepared a couple garments for you to take with you on your mission." The blonde woman motioned to one of her officers who held out a garment bag for Tenten.

Comprehending her Hokage's implications, the weapons mistress concluded what her main duty was; she was expected to_ seduce_ the targeted man.

Honestly, the capable kunoichi had no experience in that department due to the fact that concentrating on strength training and cultivating her weaponry skills had consumed the majority of her life. Yet, being the strong-minded woman she was, she was determined to skillfully deal with anything that came her way.

"I understand." Tenten assuredly stated, retrieving the light garment bag from the officer's hold.

As a result, the Hokage proudly grinned at the capable girl and wished her good luck. Tenten graciously thanked her and bowed her head before turning around to leave her office.

"Tenten," she firmly stated as the brunette opened the door to leave. "You do realize you have to take that off."

The muddled girl turned her head around to the Hokage's and understood what she had been pinpointing to when she followed her unwavering gaze down to her ring finger.

Looking at the brown-haired girl's hesitance and nonexistent response, Tsunade-sama spoke in a more understanding tone.

"I hope that won't be a problem."

Tenten closed her hazel eyes and took a deep breath before removing the beautiful ring from her finger.

"Of course not, completing this mission comes first." She promised.

* * *

**YES, finally finished the next chapter! I'm not gonna lie, my eyes hurt pretty bad from being glued to the laptop all day but I believe it was worth it! Please tell what you think about this chapter :) ! Thank you for your support! **

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	6. Liars

**The Morning After**

Chapter 6: Nana

* * *

_Being entirely immersed in his own thoughts, he failed to sense the lean figure seemingly observing the anterior of the shop adjacent them. Breaking his train of thought, he momentarily collided with the figure opposite of him and glanced down to utter a quick apology before moving on. His eyes widened at the sight of the russet-haired person in front of him who muttered bluntly._

"_You should really watch where you're going."_

The brunette figure carrying a single luggage on her slender arm was grinning widely and introduced herself as Nana; she then held out a crinkled map of the town towards him.

"Can you show me where Ryokan Inn is by any chance?" Tenten earnestly asked the bemused "stranger."

For a moment, his beloved childhood teammate was unrecognizable to him because of her altered wardrobe.

Unlike her usual bun hairstyle, her hair was tied on the side of her head in a single, high ponytail and she was dressed in a tight-fitting, cerulean, Chinese style dress.

She had always been the loveliest woman in his Hyuga eyes despite her tomboyish demeanor and lack of attention to her appearances, but presently, she was breathtaking.

It was in his nature to feel a desirous, selfish urge to sling one of his long sleeve jackets over her exposed figure to conceal what he sought to be solely meant for him.

Yet, being the prideful man who ever failed to act inaptly or out of place because of his own personal emotions, he stifled a frustrated grunt and took no course of action.

"Please," Noticing his distraught self, she spoke in a normal, polite tone to naturally break the silence. "I'd really appreciate it if you could lead me to my destination."

Reverting to his usual state of being, he replied calmly.

"Follow me."

* * *

The outwardly stoic seeming man placed her hefty luggage on the table of her inn room.

"Thank you for leading me here and carrying my luggage…" She securely locked the door behind her and assured nobody was present outside her room before continuing on with a grin. "Neji."

"Tenten," he began with a poorly masked reproachful tone as he rotated his body to face her with an emotionless face, "I thought you were arriving tomorrow."

Knowing this man like he was another part of her, she could sense his irritation that usually went unnoticed by everybody else because of his ability for concealing his true emotions.

"I like to be early." She simply stated, the smile disappearing from her face. "You know that already."

Neji diverted his attention from her beautiful brown eyes to the hardened wooden walls and mentally scolded himself for overlooking that personality trait of hers that he had already been well aware of; he had been completely caught up with other priorities.

Although the kunoichi didn't show it, she was quite disappointed that her longtime partner seemed noticeably (only evident to her) discontented by her arrival.

"Is there anything you've discovered about our target so far?" She asked, putting her personal emotions aside to acquire information upon the mission. He paused for a moment and closed his eyes before answering.

"No," he stated firmly, "I've been studying the village like our orders instructed us to."

Because of the fact that her teammate has never lied to her before, she had no reason to assume he was being untruthful and earnestly believed his false answer.

"I see. Well thank you again for aiding me, Neji."

She politely dismissed him indirectly for two reasons: knowing that if he stayed in her room for too long that outside suspicion would arise; the second reason being that she was growing more frustrated with his unfamiliar cold tone by the minute. She started to shuffle through her luggage to settle herself into the room, ignoring his presence completely as in indication for him to leave.

Knowing his woman just as well as she knew him, he fully understood both of her indications and began to feel remorseful for his behavior towards her. However being the prideful prodigy who never had to explain his selfish reasons or convey his raw emotions through words, he wrapped his sturdy arms around her thin waist and pulled her into a tight embrace.

Comprehending her closest comrade's approach on apologizing, the curves of her mouth lifted upwards again as her frustration dispersed.

"Thank you, Neji."

For a moment, he permitted himself to indulge in his subjective emotions and pressed his rough lips against her soft ones, intending it to be more of an amorous one than a lustful one.

Startled at first, Tenten slowly eased into the moment and returned the kiss, wrapping her own arms around his sturdy body.

* * *

Before either of them had even tried to grasp their current situation, the two were already closely intertwined side by side on the white bed: lips securely locked upon one another, hungrily letting each others active tongues venture their mouths.

He halted their conjoined lips and maneuvered himself from the side of the bed to be on top of her body with his legs now intersecting with hers. He then brought his lips down to her neck, causing her to shiver at the tickling sensation.

"Neji…" A soft moan left her lips as he then trailed his left hand up her leg and rubbed it gently before moving higher up her sensitive thigh. He found the shortness of her dress make his task a fluent one as he then fingered her lacy panty line, moving her fingers dangerously close to the middle of her trembling legs.

She bit the bottom of her lip and closed her eyes in an attempt to keep her further moans from escaping. He finally reached the mid of her panties, rubbing it tenderly over the fabric, causing her to moan more evidently despite her attempts at being quiet.

Silencing her increasing vocal pleasures, he removed his tongue from the base of her neck and returned it to her lips, replaying their passionate, needy kiss as his left fingers quickened its pace on her delicate area.

Tenten, barely handling the exhilarating sensation that was so new to her, sought for familiar comfort as she reached out for his free right hand with her left one.

When their hands intertwined, there was no object uncomfortably poking mildly at his fingers.

Neji immediately realized this, causing him to break their kiss and halt his left hand's pleasurable movement on her body, because of his masked

He hesitantly released his grip on his beauty of a fiancée and steadied his body off of hers and onto the cold, wooden floor.

Perplexed by his abrupt actions yet still sensing the reverberations of his touch, questioning words were attempted to be spoken but were replaced with her dissipating heavy breathing instead.

* * *

Silence surrounded the room for a moment until the sound of his footsteps steadily making its way to her door was heard. Before leaving her room he wordlessly stood at her door, contemplating on whether he should state what was on his mind or not.

Her saddened, inquiring eyes were locked on his distant, wavering ones as she patiently waited for him to continue.

"Where is your ring?" He spoke as calmly as he could to mask his discontent.

Now it was the guilty kunoichi's turn to pause for a moment before answering his simple question.

"Ah…" she looked down to her ring finger and attempted to seem surprised by its absence. "I must've forgotten it at home when I took it off to shower." She lied, astonished by the believable words coming out of her own mouth.

She hadn't ever been one to lie to him before; this was the first time and because of that, she prayed that he would believe her because he had no prior reason to be suspicious of her words.

"I see." He breathed in relief at the thought that it wasn't intentional, before proceeding to depart her room. "I should leave before anyone suspects us."

"I understand." She ruefully watched him pull the lock, the hinges creaking slightly as he opened the door, before adding an honest statement to their farewells. "I'm sorry." She truly did mean it.

"It's fine." He answered half honestly.

Once she heard his rhythmic footsteps dissipate, she felt a mixture of emotions overcome her: embarrassment for succumbing to pleasure, confusion for how she truly felt towards Neji and why she didn't oppose to his sudden advances, and furthermost, guilt for lying to him and hiding her separate mission from him.

Various emotions occupied her mind, making her almost forget the imperative assignment of the team, the purpose of the kidnapping, the obligation she had to Konoha, and her _own_ personal mission.

She clenched her fists to ease her clouded thoughts and returned to her usual self; she mentally repeated to herself as a reminder.

"The mission comes first."

Unknown to her, outside of her inn, a dispirited Hyuga was repeating the exact words in his head.

For the first time in their entire lives, the inseparable duo was proving to be uncooperative and disingenuous to one another due to their own qualms and selfishness.

* * *

**Yes, I finally finished the sixth chapter! :) Please keep reviewing and reading my story if it interests you! Your guys' comments seriously make my day. I do hope the mildly smutty scene wasn't too overwhelming for some out there... I don't believe it qualifies for an M rating yet but as the story progresses, I will change the rating when necessary.**

**Reread the chapters over and over!**

**Eat while reading it!**

**Vision the characters interacting!**

**Imagine how beautiful Tenten must look in her Chinese dress!**

**Eat again!**

**Wine... drink wine while reading this, I guess...**


	7. Personal Contact

**The Morning After**

Chapter 7: Personal Contact

* * *

**3 Days Later**

The four members of team Gai were seated at the local, crowded Japanese restaurant well-known for their superb ramen noodles.

Lee and Gai-sensei were seated across one another at one of the booths while Neji and Tenten were sitting in the same proximity at the highchairs of the bar, making them close enough to whisper inconspicuously to one another while simultaneously keeping a low profile.

"My beautiful pupil and I have discovered that Kai-san has recently left for a high-ranked mission; we are unsure when he will return. However…" Gai-sensei paused for a moment to thank the waiter for bringing his miso ramen with extra seaweed to him and continued when the man left, "This gives us time to think of a successful strategy. Do you guys have any _suggestions_?" His big, round eyes flickered to Tenten for a moment when he emphasized his last phrase, causing Neji to immediately speak up before anybody else could have the chance to.

"I believe I can infiltrate his group of acquaintances him and gain his trust, lure him to a more secluded area where you three will conceal yourselves, and capture him from there."

The three listeners were quiet for a moment, thinking over Neji's proposal.

Normally if this idea came from Naruto or Kiba, they would immediately brush it off as impossible because of its riskiness and high rate of failure.

However, this was _Hyuga Neji_ with this proposition; the prodigy's plans always likely brought forth success.

"I have no objection to that…" Tenten spoke in a poised manner as she delightfully fingered the dumplings that had just been brought out to her by her waiter.

Although she had been arranged her own personal mission, she believed she should give her assertive teammate's idea a chance before proposing Tsunade-sama's idea to them.

"I have no complaint to that as well…" Lee murmured out of faith in his comrade while he finished the ramen noodles in front of him.

"Yosh…" Gai-sensei began, considering the same exact thing that Tenten had as he continued. "So we've decided. Neji, I leave that up to you then."

* * *

**Strategy**

Neji, excluding the fact that he had been attempting to spy on Kai for the past week against Gai-sensei's commands, had informed the three of how Kai was notorious as an addict to alcohol and frequented the local bar.

Without further questioning their competent teammate, the three planned to regulate themselves nearby the bar without actually entering the pub and wait for any forthcoming commands from Neji.

Once Neji gave the okay, the three would accommodate to wherever he was leading his target.

* * *

**5 Days Later**

The okay hadn't been signaled in five days.

Neji, sipping on his gin and tonic at the bar that he had already familiarized himself with, glanced around his surroundings once more to see his perpetrator nowhere to be seen; it had already been four hours since his arrival, the second time he's had to repeat this routine, and the fifth day Team Gai has actually been included in this plan.

Displeased, he reached out for his wallet to pay for his drink when a familiar voice instantaneously caused him to halt his movements.

"Geez, that mission sure took a lot more out of me than I expected." The handsome russet haired man wearily stepped into the bar and plopped onto the seat of their usual table and groaned. "I need a drink."

"You always do." An easygoing-sounding man jokingly replied, causing the man next to him to laugh as well.

"Fuck you guys." Kai groaned half-heartedly.

Neji glanced over to where the pinpointed carefree voices were; there were three of them: Kai and the two personified men with average build. The three worn out ninjas were sporting traditional jonin uniforms as well as minor cuts on bruises on their bodies.

Obviously they had just returned from their mission and were aiming to unwind themselves after their seemingly strenuous mission.

The now watchful Hyuga took note of the current, progressive situation: the intimidatingly, colossal man was absent, probably due to severe injuries from the mission, the three seemed less guarded than usual and were focused on relaxing, and the three jonins were also evidently fatigued from their assignment.

Even the expressionless Hyuga Neji couldn't help but discreetly smirk at the advantageous circumstances he was facing.

In a single fluent movement, Neji stood from his seat and coolly made his way towards their table.

"Can I buy you a drink?" The pale eyed man eyed the members of the table casually. The two men accompanying Kai glanced up at this abrupt stranger in cautious curiosity, while Kai seemed more amused at the intrusion.

"I'm sorry but I'm not into men." Kai stated in a joking manner. Neji, being the great disguiser he is, forcefully smirked at Kai's insulting statement before continuing.

"Of course you aren't. I was just hoping I could offer you a drink for all your hard work and dedication to this village."

The three men studied the attractive, harmless seeming stranger in front of them who had just complimented them and offered to buy them drinks. The three exchanged glances and wordlessly came to a unanimous conclusion.

"Well by all means, go right ahead." Kai shifted down a seat to make room for one more as the two opposite Kai smiled widely at the long, black haired man; Neji obliged to their welcoming acceptance and coolly introduced himself before joining their table.

"I'm Gin."

* * *

**Outside the bar**

"Wow Gai-sensei, Neji is quite amazing… he's infiltrated their group within minutes of their arrival." Lee, flickered his eyes over at Neji's efficient progress through the glass windows, praised him as he sipped his iced water.

"Our Neji-kun certainly is a beautiful flower." Gai-sensei generously swallowed his cold beer and continued with an arm on Lee's lean back when he noticed his precious son's envy. "You are a beautiful lotus flower as well, Lee."

Lee's face quickly turned to face his sensei, tears rushing down his cartoon-like face.

"Gai-sensei!"

"No Lee…" Prominent tears began streaming from Gai-sensei's structured face. "You can call me dad."

"Father!"

"Son!"

"Father!"

"Son!"

They united in a lovingly disturbing embrace with animated sunsets and dramatic waterfalls rushing in the background.

Lee, facing the outside bar opposite of where they were sitting, gently pushed away from the embrace because he had taken notice of something.

"Father… Where is Tenten? She was just here sitting outside of the pub on the other side."

"…"

* * *

**30 minutes later**

"Gin," Kai half-drunkenly slung an arm around Neji's neck before continuing, "so you mean to tell me that you traveled all the way from the Land of Water to here?!"

Neji, already skillfully adjusting to the mindset of a young adventurous traveler, first beckoned the bartender to fetch them more drinks before coolly answering his question in character.

"That place wasn't for me. I needed my space."

The three men flung their heads back and hooted in laughter at something that wasn't meant to be that humorous. However judging by their reddened faces and slurred words, they weren't completely rational at the moment.

"You got that right!" The man seated in front of Kai shouted.

"Good thing we left that fucking Konoha!" The man in front of Neji obnoxiously replied.

Neji's attention prominently grew at the mention of his home village, though he neglected to let it physically show. He decided not to press him for an explanation at the risk of seeming too eager to know about it and let them continue their mindless hollering.

"Yeah, that place was terrible! Full of selfishness and greed!"

"That pathetic excuse of a Hokage of theirs is no good either!"

Neji quietly listened to the two men's obvious contempt for Konoha and took mental note that Kai was being surprisingly silent throughout their hollering.

As the two opposite them rambled on, Kai mumbled over to Neji.

"You ever been there, Gin?"

Neji quickly contemplated the best answer before replying.

"No, I haven't. I was actually planning to travel there after my stay at Sugi Village."

Kai snorted before gulping down the new rounds of alcohol the bartender provided them.

"Forget it. It'll be the biggest mistake of your life."

"Oh?" Neji followed suit of his new "friend" and casually drank another shot. "How so?"

"Just is." He replied curtly, seeming as if he didn't want to continue clarifying the matter anymore than he already had.

"Well," Kai stood from the table and his two comrades rose from their seats with him,

"It's been quite a night. We should get going; it was nice meeting you, Gin." Kai held out an arm and graciously shook hands with Neji.

Neji, incapable of preventing his target from escaping him, powerlessly nodded in agreement at the beaming man speaking his farewells.

Just as the target was preparing to depart with his two comrades, a loud crashing noise abruptly caught their attention from the other side of the room. Suddenly, a larger than average man had been harshly flung across the room; he had crashed on the wooden ground where the four stunned men were.

Like everyone else in the room, the four men gazed up from the wounded fellow to see who had dealt the damage; their eyes widened further when they viewed who the culprit was.

Long, russet wavy locks cascaded down her lean body as she donned a tightfitting black tank top along with loose black pants and heeled sandals. She unashamedly stood in the middle of the room with her hands positioned on her hips, being the star of everyone's attention.

"Don't underestimate women." She assertively stated to the man she had just thrown across the room before shooting a glance towards the tense bartenders. "Don't worry, I'll see myself out."

Neji, as startled as everyone else in the room was, nervously glanced over to view Kai's reaction and hoped that he disregarded it and considered it a mere disruption.

To his dismay, the handsome man had an apparent smirk on his face as well as an intrigued gaze in his eyes.

"You wanna know something, Gin?"

"What?" Neji asked nonchalantly, though he was actually anticipating the man's response.

"That's my future wife right there."

* * *

**Thank you again for all of your support! :) You guys are the absolute best! Please**

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	8. Tenten

**The Morning After**

Chapter 8: Tenten

* * *

**10 minutes ago**

Tenten stood alone at the corner of the bar: her side facing Neji and Kai's table while her ordered beer (free of charge from the flirtatious bartender) on the table remained untouched. She had been unobtrusively eavesdropping on the four of them, analyzing Neji's progress as well as the other unfamiliar three men.

She noted that the two opposite of them were of average height and looks, good chakra build, and sociable outgoing personalities.

Kai, however, was just as handsome as his picture had depicted him to be (causing her to unintentionally grin in delight); he had a lean and muscular build, an excellent chakra construct, and a more devious nature to him that he disguised quite well.

The four of them seemed to be having an enjoyable time, throwing their heads back to further emphasize their laughter as well as playfully making close physical contact with each other despite their unfamiliarity.

Tenten mentally sighed out a breath of relief; everything seemed to be going according to plan.

As she quickly peered over at them, she noticed the sudden look of distress from Neji that was only noticeable to her and realized that Kai was planning to depart soon.

She bit her bottom lip and mentally cursed at the plan's failure and how they might not be able to locate him another time if he was to be sent off on another mission again, perhaps one that would take even longer. They couldn't afford to wait that long.

It was only a matter of time before the Land of Sugi could possibly declare an all-out war on Konoha.

The troubled kunoichi contemplated on what course of action she could take when she was unexpectedly disturbed by a large, brawny arm clumsily placing itself around her waist.

"Hey baby, wanna come back to my place?" He slurred carnally, his breath reeking with the stench of alcohol.

She wrinkled her nose at the stench and chose to ignore the obscenity spouted from the man's mouth while sternly removing his sweaty arm from her figure, hoping he would give up and leave her alone.

Instead he grew livid, his emotions and anger skyrocketed due to his complete drunkenness.

"You conceited whore! Just because you have some nice tits doesn't mean you can be a fucking bitch-"

Before he had been able to finish his outburst, Tenten had momentarily overlooked the aspect of laying low (due to him getting on her nerves with his crude sexist comments) and swiftly swung him across the room with an elegant, yet powerful kick to his stomach.

* * *

**Currently **

"_Don't underestimate women." She assertively stated to the man she had just thrown across the room before shooting a glance towards the tense bartenders. "Don't worry, I'll see myself out." _

_Neji, as startled as everyone else in the room was, nervously glanced over to view Kai's reaction and hoped that he disregarded it and considered it a mere disruption. _

_To his dismay, the handsome man had an apparent smirk on his face as well as an intrigued gaze in his eyes._

"_You wanna know something, Gin?" _

"_What?" Neji asked nonchalantly, though inside he was actually eager for the man's response._

"_That's my future wife right there."_

Neji's eyes trailed in discomfort as his new "friend" sprinted over to the door to catch up to _his _woman who was rushing out the door.

"Miss! Please wait!"

Already peeved from her previous incidence, she swiftly turned and readily positioned a sturdy fist to respectively sock any further harassers. Interested brown pupils met with startled chocolate ones.

In front of her was Kai, rapidly waving his hands up as he laughingly spoke.

"Whoa, whoa. Put those down please! I don't mean any harm!"

Her wave of anger immediately washed away when she became conscious of who her amused pursuer was. She instinctively lowered her fist and thought to apologize to the man; it wouldn't be very seductive of her to threaten to punch him in the face without an apology.

"I'm sorry…" she began half-heartedly. "I'm a little on edge right now."

"I can see that." He paused for a moment before continuing politely. "I'm Kai. What's your name?"

"Nana." She replied simply to conceal her disbelief self.

"Nana…" He repeated carefully before grabbing her right hand and kissing it gently. "It's very nice to meet you."

He was fixated on her as he grinned widely, causing her to become considerably embarrassed from all of the unwavering attention from the very attractive gentleman. She then diverted her eyes away from his piercing stare; his smile slightly fading when she did so.

Coincidentally when she broke their gaze, she was met with an even more penetrating one; her eyes were now met with pale, discomposed ones that were engrossed on her and her follower.

Knowing him for all her life she could sense how very anxious he was, though Neji must have looked completely composed from an outsider's perspective. Tenten couldn't help but think of how distressed he had looked at this very moment and she hated seeing him like that; she wasn't used to it and it made her want to was hold him.

* * *

**At Neji's Table**

Neji and the two other men were still sitting at the table, interestedly witnessing the interesting scene unravel in front of him. Neji, struggling to seem as uninterested in the matter as he possibly could, took steady breaths in an endeavor to keep himself collected as he watched Tenten and Kai interact for what seemed to be forever.

He pleadingly kept his pale eyes locked onto hers as they were both heavily entranced with one another.

"Well this is interesting." One of the two men spoke in interest to the other as only he kept full physical attention on finishing the beer in front of them rather than on their comrade and the mystery female.

"Yeah, this is the first time I've seen Kai bother to take an initiative to meet a woman." The other men commented favorably as he grinned widely in the brunette girl's direction.

"Well, I can see why." The other man finished the remains of his drink before continuing. "She's beautiful. I've never seen a woman like her before."

"I bet she could kick your ass!" The man guffawed loudly (oh the irony…), earning a friendly punch from his friend in return.

"Fuck you," He joked at his comrade's friendly insult. He then turned his attention to Kai and Tenten since he now had an empty beer and he squinted his eyes to get a closer look. "Hey… Doesn't it kinda seem like she's looking this way?"

* * *

Entrapped in her partner's stare, she failed to perceive that Kai was still speaking to her. Still gripping her hand, he gently nudged it to catch her attention.

"Nana." He repeated softly.

"Ah," she broke out of her daze and turned her attention back to the man she had momentarily disregarded. Noticing that the man was still holding onto her hand, she instantly pulled her hand back to her side.

"Excuse me," unable to stop the blunt, rejecting words from automatically spouting from her mouth, she unwillingly continued. "But I don't know you very well so please refrain from touching me."

Against what the common sense from her brain was instructing her to do, she found herself curtly turning her back towards Kai and firmly pacing herself out the door and away from him.

That was her great chance and she had just rudely dismissed him as if he wasn't the _target_ of their high ranking mission, like she wasn't supposed to cunningly _seduce_ him, and as if she was acting the way a faithful _wife _should act. She wasn't even completely sure why she did it.

She bitterly bit the bottom of her lip in frustration at her own thoughtless movements before unconsciously relaying the image of her beloved teammate's pained facial expression; it instantly pacified her chaotic emotions and emptied her anxious thoughts.

A tall figure discreetly brushed by her shoulder and mutedly spoke in a familiar voice.

"Are you alright, Tenten?"

"I'm fine, Gai-sensei," she lied, speedily thinking of a believable explanation before continuing, "I had a couple of drinks so I'm a little out of it. I'm going home first."

Gai wore a saddened look on his face as he watched the back of his beautiful flower hurriedly rush away.

After many magnificent years of being together as loving comrades, Gai had recognized that his precious pupil had just lied to him for the first time.

* * *

**YES! This has got to be my longest story yet... I have a feeling it will last quite a while. Please do keep up with the wonderous support ! :) It makes me very happy.**

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**And yes, don't worry. There will be twists, turns, lemons, tragedy, angst, lust, love, and more! ;]**


	9. Reassurance

**The Morning After**

Chapter 9: Reassurance

* * *

Once again Team Gai was gathered in the local Japanese restaurant, positioned similarly to their last visit there. Their usually outspoken sensei and the miniature version of him wordlessly ate their classic Miso ramen noodles. The kunoichi detachedly ate her favorite dumplings while Neji left the fresh soba noodles in front of him untouched.

"Neji, Tenten…" Being the first one to speak, Gai-sensei murmured cautiously after he was halfway through his noodles. "What happened?"

After a short-lived moment of silence from the two, Tenten had quietly spoken in shame while Neji continued to eye his noodles silently. "I messed up."

"Next time will be different." She followed up quickly with a resilient promise in an attempt to convince herself more so than she was trying to reassure them.

Gai-sensei released a gentle sigh; that wasn't the question he meant when he was asking her.

Instead he inquired of what intense events must have transpired between his two wonderful pupils to result in their unusually distant behavior.

Gai-sensei glimpsed over at Neji's seemingly emotionless face; Neji appeared to be avoiding eye contact with him and almost imperceptibly flinched when he sensed his sensei's penetrating gaze upon him.

The adult man concluded that Neji surely understood the question he was asking, unlike the usually skilled analytic Tenten.

However he was fully aware that the reserved man wouldn't answer his question.

Sparing the mildly tense Neji, Gai-sensei proceeded to shift his attention to Lee who was sitting in front of him, wearing an identically concerned look on his face.

Lee nodded at his saddened sensei in acknowledgements of his contemplations; his favorite pupil had even shared the exact same thoughts as he had.

Gai felt somewhat comforted that at least Lee had understood him and wasn't miserably drifting away from him; he resisted the strong urge to wrench his "son" into a chokingly tight embrace while crying passionately into the sunset as they shouted their sorrows over their unusually distant comrades.

He speedily shook his head as if to get rid of the negative thoughts out of his head; his bowl cut hair swaying in the wing majestically as he did.

He clasped his strong hands together and pacified himself; Team Gai had overcome many difficulties and barriers within their countless years together; they had even grown together as a protective family rather than just a mission squad. Their bond was too imperishable to break so suddenly.

Gai positively believed that their current situation was solely a minor setback.

He vowed to himself with a confident smile that once the mission was over, he would touchingly reunite their team's deteriorating union with numerous exercises; they would begin with something simple such as 200 push-ups and sit-ups. Lee, as if mentally interpreting his sensei's every thought, rapidly nodded approvingly at his father figure; Gai-sensei beamed proudly at his child and peeked over at his other two children again.

Instead of pressing the subject and prospectively making their matters worse, their happy-go-lucky teacher self-assuredly murmured, "Alright then. I trust you."

* * *

**5 Days Later**

The four of them continued to frequent the crowded pub, with the two lookalikes situated outside the bar and the distraught duo separately placed inside the pub.

Frustrated, they'd found no avail; Kai hadn't made an appearance at the place ever since Neji and Tenten's exchange with him.

Tenten sported a loose, black jacket with a hoodie, fearing she would be exiled from the bar due to her violent actions of rashness the other day. Her shoulders stiffened slightly under the comfortable fabric when she sensed a familiar man pacing himself casually towards her.

"Are you upset with me?"

She mentally shuddered at the low familiar voice that subtly questioned her; it's been the first time they've spoken to each other in more than a week; they hadn't even made eye contact with one another.

"I am not." She replied shortly, straining to sound nonchalant as she tossed one of the complimentary nuts of the bar into her mouth.

Neji casually slid onto the empty seat next to her, outwardly ignoring her presence as he assertively requested a glass of wine from the now familiarized bartender.

"You haven't spoken to me in 10 days." He discreetly whispered to her as the bartender ambled away to fetch his drink.

"Well," Tenten kept her attention on the bowl of nuts on the table as she continued her naïve facade, "We are supposed to be undercover."

"Tenten." He spoke sternly, fully aware that his closest comrade knew exactly what he meant by his question, causing her to momentarily freeze up at the intensity of his tone.

"Neji…" she began, her eyes darting noticeably at the glistening, silver ring on his left hand that seemed to be cruelly taunting her, before finishing her hurtful sentence. "I can't be yours right now."

He remained silent right now as he struggled to restrain his upset emotions from physically showing.

The usually composed prodigy allowed himself a moment of grace to quickly calm his nerves so that he wouldn't speak irrationally to the woman he so highly regarded.

He was aware that the reason she had been so hesitant on employing her full effort on seducing Kai was because of _him_, her male comrade's utter selfishness.

He mentally groaned and reprimanded himself; Hyuga Neji was _never_ like this.

Though, in his defense he actually hadn't deliberately sought to influence her actions, he was simply expressing his natural outlooks on the matter. However, a ninja was expected to isolate themselves from personal desires because of their comprehension of the essential obligation a Konoha ninja has to their home village.

"I understand." He spoke gently, the words she had been desperately waiting to hear finally leaving his proudly stubborn Hyuga lips.

The kunoichi's hostile mood dissipated as her body prominently relaxed at his presence.

"Thank you, Neji." She whispered with a soft smile as he subtly nodded in response, not regretting his words.

The bartender strolled over, handing his pale eyed customer his usual glass of wine.

Neji thanked him politely and took that as his cue to leave since his excuse to have any business next to the brunette "stranger" had just ended.

As he nonchalantly brushed passed her, she mutely whispered something to him before he was gone from her proximity.

"When this mission is over, I want to be with you."

* * *

The four Konoha ninjas disgruntledly proceeded back to their differing inns at dissimilar time intervals, concluding that their target wasn't going to make an appearance tonight.

Neji departed first, followed by Gai and Lee half an hour later, and lastly Tenten.

Tenten picked the warm jacket off her shoulders and swung it around her waist, tying it in a sturdy knot as she walked back to her inn.

When she arrived to her destination she greeted the landlady courteously before beginning to rush to her room.

"Ah, wait Nana-san!" The elderly landlady eagerly called out to the weary girl; Tenten halted and turned around to face the woman who had addressed her through her phony name.

"Yes, Obaa-sama?" She forced a kind smile upon her face to her elder despite her exhaustion.

"There's someone who has been waiting to see you. He said he was well-acquainted with you so I let him wait inside your room." She informed her, returning a genuine smile to her customer.

"Thank you, Obaa-sama." She spoke graciously.

Assuming it was her close and beloved comrade, Neji, aiming for some further closure with her as well as to discuss a new and improved battle strategy; she rushed to her room out of excitement instead of weariness.

Once she opened the door, her smile immediately faded at the lean figure that had allowed his intrusive self into her room, seated comfortably on the side of her bed.

The russet haired man bared his straight teeth in a beaming smile at her presence.

"I've been looking for you, Nana."

Speechless, she held his intense eye contact as she closed her eyes to instantly cool herself down, mentally considering her next course of action.

When she finally opened her hazel eyes, she deviously returned his pleased expression and grinned widely.

"Kai." She spoke happily to the welcome trespasser.

She would not mess this up.

* * *

**For some reason, I'm always writing these at 4am in the morning… or on the toilet. ^_^ It relaxes me when I can't sleep or poop.**

**Thank you for reading my story!**

**Please show me some kindness an W!**

**:]**


	10. Seduction

**The Morning After**

Chapter 10: Seduction

* * *

_Once she opened the door, her smile immediately faded at the lean figure that had allowed his intrusive self into her room, seated comfortably on the side of her bed. _

_The russet haired man bared his straight teeth in a beaming smile at her presence._

"_I've been looking for you, Nana."_

_Speechless, she held his intense eye contact as she closed her eyes to instantly cool herself down, mentally considering her next course of action. _

_When she finally opened her hazel eyes, she deviously returned his pleased expression and grinned widely._

"_Kai." She spoke happily._

_She would not mess this up._

* * *

After mentally circulating the perimeters to check for any exceptional chakra builds, she determined that Kai had arrived unaccompanied.

Most of the villagers were ready to sleep at this hour so there wouldn't be many prying eyes to cautiously be vigilant.

However, she desperately wished that her resilient comrades and sensei were present at the moment; this would've been the perfect time to capture Kai.

Although she was confident of her own abilities, she disgruntledly decided that she would be unable to singlehandedly seize this potentially harmful man without causing a ruckus.

For a moment, she thoughtfully imagined of how Neji had the best chance out of the three of them to independently capture their target.

The skillful prodigy could utilize his strong offensive move, the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, to rapidly dispatch his enemy by striking many of their tenketsu, making it difficult for Kai to both move and control chakra; that would then be the perfect opportunity to capture their target.

She quickly broke out of her trance and mentally murmured dejectedly to herself.

_I'm not Neji. I can't do that._

Suddenly, Tsunade-sama's words rung loudly through her head.

"_You, the perfect image of a woman that Kai has been searching for, can effortlessly isolate him from his individuals where your other teammates can then ambush him…"_

She soon recognized her own affirmative abilities; ones that neither Neji nor anybody else could accomplish as successfully as she could.

"What brings you here?" She spoke playfully to the unguarded man, closing the door behind her as she did so while she unwaveringly kept stern eye contact with Kai.

"I wanted to see you…" he began gingerly as he abruptly rose from her bedding and headed her way in steady footsteps.

"Why?" She questioned him casually, placing her hands on her thin hips as she did so. He disregarded her question, concentrating more on her physical being, rather than what she was saying.

Though outwardly hidden, her nervousness increased with every inch he took towards her until he had finally reached her; she sharply held her breath to contain her anxiety.

His muscular figure was gently pressed upon her lean one as both of his arms were positioned on either side of her upon the wall, leaving little to no room for excessive movements; she listened to his steady, slow breathing fill the soundless room.

It took all of her strength to restrain herself from prying this unacquainted man from her comfort zone.

He grinned at the obvious discomfort radiating from the tomboyish woman and replied coolly before releasing his confinement.

"I wanted to apologize." He stepped away from her and returned to his former seat on the side of her bed. She quickly regained her composure and inquired casually.

"For what?"

"Coming on too strong to you."

She earnestly grinned widely at his answer; he arrived at her room unannounced to apologize for coming on too strong yet he had just done so again a moment ago.

"I suppose you can't help who you are."

"It's not," A serious look on his face replaced his former cheerful one, causing her to instinctively copy his expression as well.

"What do you mean?" She asked cautiously at the abrupt transformation in the atmosphere.

"I've never felt this way about anyone before."

Though she recognized that she should have utilized this somewhat confession to her advantage, she couldn't restrain her true feelings from surfacing and spoke honestly.

"But you don't know me." That statement was true on many more levels than she initially intended it to be.

"It was love at sight," he laughingly spoke at his own outrageous words.

She widened her hazel eyes and raised one of her eyebrows in disbelief.

That concept had never been quite comprehendible for her; she witnessed it multiple times whenever Lee had sudden infatuations with random girls he encountered and though she admitted to thinking certain boys were attractive, she never considered herself anywhere near in love with them.

The only person she would consider herself the closest in love with was her well-acquainted, pale eyed teammate. However that resulted in countless years of being together and slowly understanding each other without words; it surely wasn't a sentiment she received within instants of their encounter.

Unsure of how to respond to his declaration, she decided against it in fear of turning this advantageous occurrence to an obstructive one.

Kai, concluding that she wasn't going to speak, acknowledged her unconvinced self and continued on in a kind, persuasive tone.

"I want to get to know you, Nana." He offered her a gentlemanly smile and stood from the bed for a second time. "It would be an honor if you would let me take you out tomorrow."

Though still mildly confused, she was still rational enough to understand that she should graciously accept this open opportunity to develop his trust of her.

"I suppose you could." She forced herself to grin flirtatiously.

He smiled and began to make his way to the wooden door, seeing himself out.

"I'll pick you up at noon."

"I'll be waiting."

Tenten, standing at the entrance of the door, stepped over to the side to make way for his departure when he had finally reached the door.

Once again, they found themselves in close proximity to one another, only this time there was no awkwardness or anxiousness. Rather, she felt a strange flicker of excitement within her.

Her opposite, perceptibly realizing the difference in her reaction from previously, situated his strong arm around her small waist and quickly pulled her in.

Before she could even comprehend what was happening his cold lips were firmly pressed onto her warm ones; the exhilarating sensation sending chills throughout her compact body.

Suddenly breaking the short-lived lip lock with his target, he pulled away and smiled at the dazed brunette while parting with a short farewell before leaving and politely closing the door.

Carefully bringing her fingertips to her sensitive lips, she grinned playfully and silently prided herself upon her own acting abilities; she internally mused.

_Let the games begin._

* * *

**Honestly I was originally thinking of having Tenten actually begin to become somewhat attracted to Kai in this chapter and create an irony; she was the one being seduced by him when it was supposed to be the other way around! Buuuuuuuuut I decided against it because I remembered that a tough girl wouldn't fall for a touchy guy so easily ^_^ and then I pressed backspace on the whole chapter and rewrote it. **

**Hope you enjoyed it! **

**Thank you for reading :D **


	11. Intrusions

**The Morning After**

Chapter 11: Intrusions

* * *

**5:30AM**

Choosing to wear one of the garments Tsunade-sama had specifically prepared for her, she simply selected the first in the pile, the elegant cerulean kimono. The sleeves were lengthy and loosely draped past her thin arms while the hem of the Japanese style dress teasingly dangled over her upper thigh.

Considerably uncomfortable with the kimono's length, the conservative kunoichi slipped on a pair of her own black spandex shorts under her uniform.

She then secured her wavy, brown locks into a tight high ponytail above her head and circled the tie with a long white ribbon that she knotted into a pleasant ribbon.

Taking a moment to stare into the mirror at her finished product, she found herself peering into the russet eyes of an unfamiliar beautiful woman.

Immediately uncomfortable, Tenten thought of how unrecognizable she looked and of how extensively she preferred her usual boyish wardrobe over this unfamiliarly suggestive one.

However she was never one to defy orders or complain upon mission procedures (especially if it was given to her from her beloved Tsunade-sama).

Like usual, she accommodated to her duties and omitted her own personal opinions.

The undercover kunoichi glanced over at the clock to see how long it would be until noon; her eyes slightly widened at the realization that it had only been 6A.M.

Though Tenten had always been timelier than most for early preparations, 6 hours formerly has been the earliest she had gotten ready for a mission.

The overly punctual kunoichi contentedly lay on her bed and began to patiently wait for 360 minutes to pass by.

* * *

**10:30AM**

Despite her capable and usually composed demeanor as well as her heightened maturity, she was now relatively uneasy for noon to arrive.

It didn't help that she had just spent almost 5 hours overthinking of her current duty and of how utterly inexperienced she was with it.

Though her prideful self was reluctant to admit it, she had actually never been on an official date with another being before.

Her tomboyish nature and main focus on developing her ninja abilities rather than her love life had prevented her from establishing a normal romantic relationship with anyone.

As if to counter her current muses, Tenten's mind instantly recalled the unforgettably unexpected morning with her unclothed handsome comrade as well as their matching diamond ring, and the gentle, loving kiss he placed upon her unsuspecting lips.

Regardless of her naturally masculine characteristics and disregard for constructing a passionate connection with anybody of the opposite sex, she somehow managed to become involved with a striking prodigy who cared for her very deeply.

A rosy pigment crept upon her pretty face followed by a sweet, genuine smile as thoughts and images of her well-acquainted Neji continued to plague her mind, causing her usually steady heart to beat rapidly.

The subtle sound of lightly paced footsteps rang through her well-trained ears, quickly interrupting her train of thought.

Conscious of the unfamiliar chakra build edging its way towards her room, she straightened out her posture and mentally prepared for the forthcoming.

The chakra didn't belong to Kai; though it rivaled him in strength, it was structured and felt much differently than his.

A sturdy knock on her door caused her to interrogate the unknown person on the opposite side of her door.

"Who is it?"

"Good morning, Nana-chan!" A cheerful voice that she had never heard before was voiced from the other end, causing her to become taken aback at his knowledge of her secondary name. The overly friendly stranger continued casually. "My name is Kagura; I'm one of Kai's buds!"

She paused for a moment before rising to open the door where a normal looking man with dark brown hair stood confidently in front of her.

Immediately she recognized him as one of Kai's outgoing companions at the bar earlier in the week.

Kagura scanned Tenten from head to toe and released an obnoxious whistle from his cracked lips at the sight of the beautiful woman in front of him.

"Well aren't you a hottie." He grinned suggestively at her while evidently keeping his eyes on her pale legs, exposed from her kimono's length. "I could play with you all night."

Though inwardly repulsed by his sexual harassment, she decided to ignore his crude statements and firmly questioned him again with a harsher tone than she intended to.

"What did you need?"

Sensing her obvious annoyance, the disrespectful man chuckled in amusement and decided to temporarily halt his crudeness as he shifted his prior attention to her serious face.

As an implicit follow up to her recent question, Kagura swiftly rummaged through his weapons pack and pulled out a white scroll tied with a red ribbon.

"Kai wanted me to deliver this to you since he was unable to do so himself…" He grinned at her mischievously, as he held the scroll out towards her while adding to his sentence. "Sexy."

The irritated kunoichi firmly snatched the white scroll away from his clutches and spoke in a hostile manner, eager to get this chauvinist away from her.

"Is that all?"

In a response to her rhetorical question Kagura chuckled obnoxiously and threw his head back, amused with her current coldness towards him.

The entertained man decided to have one last jab at the feisty brunette before he departed.

"Not unless you wanna have a good time with me."

Kagura's goofy smile quickly faded as soon as he confronted her quietly penetrating glare; her unblinking russet eyes fiercely locked onto his with the slight furrow of her eyebrows.

Though the elite ninja assumed she was nothing more than a normal villager, for some reason he felt somewhat fearful of this supposedly harmless woman.

"Leave." She spoke roughly, filling the atmosphere with a heavy aura.

The staggered joker paused for a moment to collect his current thoughts before he willingly receded and finally left her room defeated.

Once she could no longer sense his intolerable presence, she liberatingly threw herself back onto her comfy bed and muttered disgruntledly to herself as she recalled her former incident with the first disrespectful pervert.

"Are all men in the Sugi Village pigs?"

At the smooth feel of a foreign object enclosed by her palm, Tenten shifted her focus to the sturdy cylinder in her hand; she sat up from her bed and proceeded to unravel the scroll from Kai to read its contents.

As soon as she opened the foreign scroll, a single puff of white smoke was activated; the defensive kunoichi automatically cringed at the abruptness of the triggering.

Fanning the muzzy air until the blinding smoke had generally dispersed; she realized that a single red rose had appeared atop the scroll.

Ignoring the pretty flower completely, Tenten decided to thoroughly read of what Kai had to say first.

_Beautiful Nana,_

_I must offer you my deepest apologies._

_Unfortunately I won't be able to arrive in time for our early date tomorrow. _

_I was sent on an emergency mission last night where I had to leave right away._

_I apologize for being unable to tell you in person._

_However, I will be back by 8pm tonight._

_Please be ready when I arrive to pick you up by then._

_Kai_

After analyzing the neat writing multiple times, she fingered the rose delicately being almost flattered by the thoughtfulness and courteousness of the gentlemen.

She took a moment to mentally praise him upon his appeal before hurriedly remembering her ulterior motive with the seemingly charming man.

Tenten roughly gripped the beautiful rose as its shape became unseemly and distorted as she then forcibly tossed it to the side.

She eagerly rose from her relaxing bed and slung on a pitch black trench coat that draped down to her knees, feeling much more secure now that her body was obscured.

The Konoha ninja then swiftly headed out the door with the scroll well-hidden within her kimono; she was zealous to divulge this promising information with her dependable teammates.

* * *

**At the Japanese Restaurant**

"So what did you call us here for, Tenten?" Gai-sensei spoke softly as he and Lee casually sipped the hot jasmine tea on their table while patiently waiting for their traditional noodles to arrive.

Instead of his usual favorite noodles, Neji had ordered dumplings today and was agreeably consuming them with what only she could determine as an approachable expression on his face instead of his usual serious one.

To Tenten, it was obvious that the levelheaded prodigy was in a pleasurable mood today.

She sighed in hopelessness at the awareness that her impending words would inevitably disrupt his good mood.

However, the two close companions had already reached a mutual agreement so she unwaveringly continued on with her informative disclosure.

"I have a plan to capture Kai tonight."

Though he was actually curious to know what his beloved teammate's strategy was, Neji skillfully remained inconspicuous as he unflinchingly continued on with his infrequently chosen meal.

Unfortunately the other half of her team was not as discreet as Neji.

The two men clad in green obtrusively choked on their steaming tea, slightly burning themselves in the process. Hearing their alarming moans and shrieks, the concerned waiter immediately rushed over to their booth, worriedly asking them if they were alright. Startled strangers had their attention upon the noisy duo as well.

After the two clumsy men calmed down, they forcibly comforted their frantic waiter to tentatively return to his duties because they were completely unharmed.

Assured that their short-lived disruption had subsided, they resumed their significant conversation.

"How?!" Lee anxiously questioned her, his voice much louder than he originally meant for it to be.

Tenten internally groaned at the obviousness of her goodhearted teammate and remained silent while she kept her unwavering eyes on the menu, pretending to be genuinely interested by its content.

She unnoticeably darted her keen eyes around the room, noting that multiple people were constantly flickering their pupils in interest at the noticeable oddballs.

Lastly Tenten's expectant eyes met with Hyuuga's; she knew the man she'd grown up with would completely understand every thought racing through her head. As if to validate her assumptions, he nodded slightly at her as he quickly broke their gaze afterwards.

Tenten smiled to herself and began to take her leave from the bar, knowing that conversing with her attention-grabbing partners would be too risky at the moment.

In order to risk seeming suspicious, Tenten politely excused herself from the bar and kindly informed her considerate waiter that she was having a "stomachache" when he questioned why she hadn't ordered anything to eat.

On her way towards the exit door, she cunningly slipped the light scroll into her reliable comrade's swift hands before hastily departing the restaurant, not stopping her constant footsteps as she continued down the bustling street.

Once the quick-thinking kunoichi believed she had stridden an appropriate distance away from the restaurant, she willingly retreated into the decently busy Chinese restaurant hidden in the corner.

After hungrily ordering from her favorite type of cuisine, she rested her light head on her dainty hands and mused to herself.

_I can always count on Neji for anything. _

_He'll certainly disclose the information with Gai-sensei and Lee once he's meticulously read through it._

_And then after that, I can expect to sense them lurking around at night when I've met with up Kai. _

_It's convenient that Neji knows where my stay is._

_I wonder though…_

She paused her train of thought as one of the elderly servers thoughtfully refilled her tea.

The grateful brunette graciously thanked her before continuing her mental speech, a hint of a blush filling her usually colorless cheeks.

_What could Neji be thinking when he read it?_

* * *

**YES! Thank you for being so patient! I finally finished this chapter **

**I apologize if the story is progressing quite leisurely but that's because I like to be meticulous so that every detail can be envisioned as if it were an actual episode! **

**Things will definitely pick up from here though; it seems as if the action will commence soon!**

**Please review with any thoughts that you have! I really love reading all of them, even if it is just one word. **


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